Winter Fall (I) Read online

  "Has he already noticed?"

  Yes, it could already be seen from Haia's manner of speaking that he already understood the general situation.

  "......He should have found out."

  Elsmau made a reluctant expression towards Felli's query, which ended up becoming a wry smile.

  (I decided this when I became like this.)

  Suddenly, a quiet voice came to Felli's ears. Elsmau's voice.

  (I bid farewell to my once-mercenary self.)

  The Psychokinesis flake that had arrived by her side at some unknown time quietly sent her voice into her ears.

  "Why?"

  (What beings like Psychokinesists really are, you should understand, right? To say it unpleasantly, we're voyeurs.)

  Elsmau's words made Felli speechless for a time.

  Felli had once had those kinds of thoughts herself.

  (Heaven's Blade successors are beings who have the respect of all of the citizens of Grendan, so I must be like that. Therefore, I can't let people hold on to this weakness.)

  "That weakness is...... the Mercenary Gang?"

  (Yes.)

  Elsmau quickly responded.

  (The citizens of Grendan hate people like mercenaries. Though it's contradictory for them to be able to welcome Heaven's Blade successors from outside the city, that's a rule of this city.)

  Elsmau was already a Heaven's Blade successor. Even if she feared that others were hostile towards her, that shouldn't be possible.

  Before anyone brought up that question, Felli already had the answer in her heart.

  "I think you're a little too worried, right?"

  She had called herself a voyeur, and had compared herself to Delbone, so Felli thought that Elsmau was the kind of person to worry about insignificant things.

  "I'm just rather alert about various things."

  Seeing Elsmau's stubborn attitude, Felli didn't know what she should say.

  "Rather than this, the big murky question now, is that I hope you will be able to assist us, is that alright?"

  "Nn."

  Elsmau who had her back turned wordlessly refused any more questions, and Felli also gave up.

  Honestly, they didn't have any time right now for her to care that much about individual people's problems.

  (I feel that you have no reason to be that neurotic.)

  Just as she was thinking about those things, an unknown person spoke.

  One of the Psychokinesists here.

  (She's indeed unsatisfactory compared to Delbone-sama, but she had some very good commands, and more importantly she gave us an area where we can work.)

  (Delbone-sama was too powerful, we were all like empty air.)

  (Yes, yes, though it's very busy now, I feel that it's more enriching.)

  (Though right now it's not as simple as just being enriching.)

  Mixed voices suddenly appeared, and also suddenly disappeared.

  Elsmau had turned her head over.

  In a moment, the air was filled with the atmosphere of a student being stared at by her teacher.

  "It seems that everyone likes you."

  Though Felli said this, Elsmau didn't reply with anything, once again turning back around.

  ◇

  Haia and the others stood before the thorns again.

  "Ooh, they're still going~"

  The part that they had descended on was still like a mountain of needles.

  And from the inside, intense waves of Kei ran wild in all directions.

  Lintence and Layfon were fighting.

  "Our battle won't affect the two inside, right?'

  Claribel who had arrived by his side asked this.

  "............"

  "Well?"

  "Ah, there shouldn't be any situation if we rely on their power, right?"

  "Do you want to abandon them to die!?"

  "But if we don't take off this outer clothing then we can't do anything."

  Haia didn't know why he but he rather liked Troyatte's metaphor, so he tried using it, but as expected he still shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed.

  "But......"

  "Do you think those two guys will die from this much?"

  "............"

  "In any case, if we don't deal with this thing then we can't enter."

  Moreover, if it were only normal destruction power then it would be insignificant scratches before this extraordinarily strong regenerative ability. It didn't need to be said, they could only carry out Haia's battle plan.

  Though Claribel was a bit unsatisfied with the expression with which Haia spoke, she also knew the reasons for it, so she didn't have anything more to say.

  "Then......"

  If the other side was busy fighting with Lintence and Layfon and didn't have time to care about this area, then now was the best opportunity.

  "Let's go~"

  Under the command of the Psychokinesis flake, Haia and the others clashed with the thorns.

  The waves of Kei that had stopped their momentum for a period once again spread out in the surroundings of the thorns.

  Sounds of destruction sprung up at the same time.

  The other Heaven's Blades had begun their attacks.

  Sounds of destruction overlapped, balanced each other out, and then disappeared.

  Haia released several Sendans while running through the surroundings of the thorns.

  After the Heaven's Blade successors had begun attacking, the surroundings had been destroyed, and a great quantity of dust had appeared in a moment, with the mountain of thorns slowly crumbling.

  "The next step should be coming soon, right~?"

  Up till now, the thorns...... Lævateinn had carried out regeneration after receiving this side's attacks, and then counterattacked.

  She wouldn't be so passive this time.

  "This way has its own fun~"

  But, that kind of thing didn't happen.

  Something moved in the smoke.

  "It's coming."

  Haia who felt the movement stopped his feet, and the others stopped their attacks.

  "First is, countering the counterattack."

  The dust that filled the entirety of their vision suddenly disappeared.

  No, it was only right to say that it had been absorbed into the body of the thorns.

  The destroyed substance would be absorbed and recomposed, and then the same kind of thorns would appear again......

  "Nn~~? Uwah!"

  The shadow that could be seen in the gradually dispersing smoke was not the same.

  There was some giant thing there, and Haia's reflexes were ignited in a moment, quickly using all his strength to leap up.

  The giant mass that had appeared in the smoke...... If it were only that, they could treat it as a separated group of regenerated thorns.

  But it wasn't like that.

  It was a humanoid.

  "It's a giant this time!"

  What had rushed under Haia's feet was a giant fist. The chaotic airflow blew around Haia's body.

  The origin of the fist was obviously a body, which also had an androgynous face that was neither male nor female.

  There was a giant there whose lower half was hidden underground.

  "Really, everything's coming out~"

  His sentence slightly alleviated the originally tense air.

  Though it was only half a body, the giant's height was already more than the original palace. Haia looked at the giant as if half giving up while he moved his body as he fell, descending onto the arm that the giant had extended, and then running rapidly towards the giant's head.

  "Since it might not be the same as the outer appearance anyway~"

  He passed over the arm, jumping onto the shoulder, his target the giant's neck.

  He felt a presence behind his back, wanting to catch up to Haia. The presence belonged to Claribel, and what she was thinking should be the same as Haia.

  "Come cooperate with me~"

  "You please coope
rate with me."

  Haia listened to her reply with a wry smile, and he who had dropped onto the shoulder could only cooperate with the Kei that expanded next to him, releasing a slash.

  A slash of Kei and a flash of flaming Kei blended with each other to sweep over the neck.

  But......

  "Tch......"

  "What a cheater, how hard."

  The pillar-like neck didn't even have a trace of injury.

  Not only that.

  The inexplicable sound of machinery suddenly came from somewhere, and was continuous.

  "Damn!"

  Innumerable glass spheres suddenly appeared from the outside of the neck towering like a wall before them, and in the same moment, Haia and Claribel jumped out from that position.

  Countless beams of light wiped away everything in their surroundings seconds after they had jumped out.

  As if chasing down the two of them, from the neck to the shoulder, from the shoulder to he arm, from the arm to the chest, the same kind of glass spheres appeared on every place on the giant's body and then disappeared, shooting out beams of light.

  It wasn't a situation that only targeted Haia and Claribel.

  Haia who adjusted his body in the air and who was using the recoil of Kei to change directions to evade, saw that the inexplicable light continued to appear everywhere on the giant's body.

  Judging from the flow of Kei, there were Heaven's Blade successors fighting near it.

  "This thing seriously wants to eliminate us~"

  Seriously? Was that the case?

  Lævateinn had finally gotten serious about eliminating all the Heaven's Blade successors?

  He felt shocked after thinking that the opponent had unexpectedly not used her full power until now. What kind of power did she have, to have defeated Reverse, Cauntia, and Kalvan without using her full power.

  "What should we do?"

  Claribel who was concentrating on evading nearby shouted.

  "Continue the plan from before~ Can we do anything else?"

  "That......"

  "Being destroyed or destroying, there's always been this little difference~"

  It was only different from all the battlefields before.

  After summarizing, Haia focused his power into his eyes.

  The other Heaven's Blade successors were also fighting, making a passage downwards.

  The configuration of the Psychokinesis flakes had already completed.

  Focusing his power into his eyes, focusing into his ears, eliminating unnecessary noise, using his five sense to gather battlefield information. Incomplete assistance of Psychokinesis was a very infrequent situation. They didn't have any guarantees, and he had experienced carrying out battle plans relying only on his own intuition many times before.

  "Nothing much has changed from what I always run into~"

  It was the best pretense for himself.

  While dodging the random beams of light that flew by, Haia focused.

  In order to spot the opportunity, he focused.

  However, after the giant entered the battle, it produced an unexpected ripple effect.

  The fist crashing into the ground made the entire city shake.

  "Tch."

  Ruimei clicked his tongue, pulling the iron chain.

  The iron ball passed through the gap between the fist and the ground, returning to the side of its master.

  Though the vibrations the iron ball created and the collision of the fist had offset each other’s destructive force, it wasn't complete.

  Rather, two fingers fell from the fist that the giant pulled back from the ground, and there were deep cracks left on the surface of the fist.

  But these wounds would be restored by regeneration in the end. Thinking of the futility in this, he couldn't do anything but grumble.

  "Rrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

  Ruimei roared, hurling the iron ball towards the giant's first.

  Countless spheres appeared on the fist's exterior, shooting out beams of light.

  Though the raking beams of light were aimed accurately at Ruimei, because of the great heat and shockwaves produced by the iron ball, the paths of the beams of light were distorted.

  Ruimei didn't waver at the beams of light that passed by his body, only continuing to watch the iron ball.

  The iron ball smashed into the giant's fist as he had thought, producing destructive shockwaves. The shockwaves became destructive strength that spread outwards endlessly, engulfing the fist, and finally destroying it.

  The iron ball's destruction continued all the way to the giant's elbow, and the crumbling arm fell to the ruins of the city like sand.

  Though beams of light assaulted Ruimei from other places, these beams of light were all blocked by the sweeping iron ball.

  "Hmph."

  Ruimei used his nose to exhale some of the heat from Kei, continuing to watch the giant and looking for a place to destroy.

  Destruction, destruction, endless destruction.

  "It should be enough if we destroy this thing to where it has no time or strength to regenerate."

  With respect to the power of their techniques, Ruimei was quite high up among the Heaven's Blade successors, but if only destruction were considered, he could be placed side by side with Cauntia's kind of destruction.

  Ruimei once again threw out the iron ball to destroy the giant's shoulder. A big piece was broken off the giant's shoulder, and at the same time deep cracks appeared on the lost elbow and the arm under it, the whole part cracking off.

  The sand crumbling off fell all at once, and at the same time countless spheres still shot out beams of light, trying to eliminate Ruimei.

  Ruimei used the iron chain to block all of the beams.

  "Too light."

  He moved on, beginning to look for the next place to destroy, locking on a target.

  Because of the bouncing beams of light, Ruimei's surroundings were overlapped by flashes of light, making it almost impossible to see anything.

  Even so, he still locked on to his target in the gap between the flashes.

  The giant's face.

  When he locked on his target and prepared for the time of destruction, he saw that a change had happened at that place.

  The spheres that had seemed to completely cover the original face suddenly all clustered together, becoming a giant sphere.

  "Uh......"

  Even if that sound was very short, Ruimei had a strong feeling as if he were going to be sent flying.

  Under the oppressive premonition of being unable to withstand it, Ruimei chose to move.

  Strength flowed into his hands clutching the iron chain.

  The Kei he had sent out burned behind his back, and his fighting clothes were turned to ashes in a moment.

  The giant sphere that had appeared on the giant's head seemed as if it were focusing on Ruimei......

  Strongly bracing himself on the ground and taking up a defensive posture, Ruimei released his entire body's Kei.

  Combined Internal and External-type Kei Variant - Rage.

  "Aah, how maddening."

  The unleashed Kei technique made Ruimei and his iron chain flash with red light.

  "Something like guarding didn't suit my style from the beginning."

  Attacking, attacking and attacking, that was the battle he wanted.

  But, there were very few opportunities for that kind of battle. The nature of the battles between the city and filth monsters was actually a defensive fight.

  Because they had an excellent Psychokinesist like Delbone, they were able to make aggressive defense a reality and completely eliminate the filth monsters that neared the city.

  So, it could be said that Ruimei's displeasure in his heart was a part that could only be alleviated in that kind of battle.

  But, the current battle didn't have that essential factor.

  Happening inside the city, and about stopping the advance of an enemy with a clear goal, that kind of battle.


  It didn't have any key element to make Ruimei use his full ability to fight.

  Though he had precisely manipulated his strength and honed his techniques to such a degree for this, it didn't change anything.

  It didn't change Ruimei's heart.

  Regardless of what kind of strong opponent appeared, as long as it was in the city that limited his actions, Ruimei wouldn't use one hundred percent of his power.

  But, in the current moment......

  "Uwooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!"

  Ruimei roared from the burning of the Kei technique Rage.

  A dangerous omen grew continuously stronger from the inside of the giant sphere, and Ruimei's target was right there.

  If he used his entire power then the city would be destroyed. Ruimei who had been told this didn't hesitate to flow his full Kei strength into the iron ball in order to move his body and to hurl his iron ball at the target.

  Ruimei, who leaped up together with the iron ball, felt his body becoming scorching, becoming a source of light together with the iron ball.

  Almost at the same time as this, light also came from the giant's head.

  The strong light that overflowed from the sphere was gathered together in a moment, becoming a cannon of light that was aimed at the body flying towards itself.

  The giant beam of light shot out, painting the entire surrounding scene white.

  The beam of light was almost as thick as the giant's head, about as big as a room of a normal home.

  Ruimei leaped again towards this focused beam of light, tightly grabbing the iron ball as if making the iron ball into his own fist, rushing at the beam of light as if wanting to pummel everything that displeased him, his momentum blurring the red light into a line of light.

  A clash occurred.

  Facing a beam of light this great, Ruimei's red light seemed too small.

  But, the outcome was bright.

  In the end the beam of light was completely destroyed, and reaching the head......

  "Falna, Lucia......"

  His low words were drowned out by the sounds of his Kei technique and the destruction of the giant's head, and then disappeared.

  "Success......~"

  His determination had seethed for a moment.

  Haia looked at the outcome, and even saying this single word was the most he could put forth.

  "Ruimei-sama...... He......"